[From J. Marvin Hunter’s Frontier Times Magazine, August, 1942]

The name of Charles Goodnight stands head and shoulders above that of any other pioneer cowman in Texas, and he is justly entitled to the distinction by reason of nearly three-quarters of a century of successful experience in the cow business.

Charles Goodnight was born in Macoupin county, Illinois, March 5, 1836, and died in 1930 while temporarily sojourning in Tucson, Arizona. He was almost 94 years old when death claimed him. In 1846 he came to Texas with his mother and stepfather and settled in Milam county. In 1847 the family moved to Palo Pinto county, then on the extreme frontier. At that time all of Northwestern Texas lying beyond the East Fork of the Trinity was comparatively a wilderness and its scattered settlements were continually subject to the danger of Indian raids. Dallas was mere village, its first house having been built only five years before, while the military post known as Fort Worth was not established until 1849. Charles Goodnight attended the public schools in Illinois in his early childhood, but the removal of the family to Texas cut short all his prospects of securing an education other than that acquired in active every day life. Until his 19th year he was engaged in farming, a life which, in all new countries, is one of ceaseless toil and hardships, but doubly so in a region so far removed from civilization as was Palo Pinto county Texas, at the time mentioned.

In 1856 Mr. Goodnight started on an overland trip to California, accompanied by J. W. Sheek, a young man of his own age. Their outfit consisted of a bull team and wagon and three horses, and they bore steadily westward until they reached the San Saba river, where, deciding that Texas was large enough to supply all ample field for their energy, they turned back. At the crossing of the Brazos they encountered a cattleman who proposed letting them have a small herd to handle on the shares, and a bargain was soon arranged. The young men were to take charge of the cattle—430 in number, and principally cows—hold them wherever they thought best, and brand for themselves one fourth of the increase annually, for a term of years. The cattle were in Johnson county, but were moved to Palo Pinto county and located in Keechi Valley. This was in 1857. The first year only thirty-two calves were branded, and as calves were then worth $3.00 per head, the young men realized property of the value of $96 to be divided between them as payment for their twelve months' labor and care. But they would not be discouraged, and stayed with the cattle, and in course of time their perseverance brought its reward. Under their management and care the herd became one of the largest and finest in the country, and at the time of final settlement with its owner Goodnight and Sheek received 4,000 head of cattle as their portion. They continued to manage the herd until 1865, when they purchased the interest of the original owner.

During the last years of the civil war Charles Goodnight served account and guide for a frontier regiment which was guarding the border settlements from Indian attacks. In consequence of this service his cattle were neglected and he suffered severe losses. The Confederate authorities took many of his cattle without paying him for them, Indians raided his herds, and thieves were getting some of them. He became disgusted with the condition of things, and accompanied by Kit Carter, C. C. Slaughter, Dick Jowell and George Lemley, he started to Mexico in search of a more favorable location. The party never reached its destination. While making their way through the thickets on Devil's River Slaughter was painfully wounded by the accidental discharge of Lemley's gun, and his companions turned back, bringing the wounded man to a place where he might receive medical attention. When he reached Palo Pinto county, Mr. Goodnight found his affairs in worse shape than ever, so he turned to New Mexico. He fell in with Oliver Loving and they drove their cattle to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, opening up what was ever afterwards known as the Goodnight & Loving Trail. At Fort Sumner they sold their entire herd at eight cents a pound. The demand for cattle at Fort Sumner was sufficiently good to warrant making that place the objective point for another herd. Returning down the trail with the proceeds of the sale just made loaded on their pack mules, an incident occurred which came near wrecking their newly formed hopes. While in the roughest and most dangerous portions of the country, and when the greatest care was exercised to prevent their presence becoming known to Indians, a mule bearing six thousand dollars in gold in its pack broke away in the darkness and scattered the provisions it carried in every direction. The gold was saved by the quickness and strength of Mr. Goodnight, who caught it at a rope hanging from the pack and checked the frantic animal, after being dragged down a rocky slope at the risk of his neck. The provisions were a total loss, however. The party struggled on to the Pecos river, a distance of eighty-six miles, where they accidentally met a man who divided with them his meagre supply of food.

Goodnight and Loving drove several herds to Fort Sumner, and had many fights and brushes with Indians. On one of these trips Loving was shot in the arm, and eventually died after the arm had been amputated, an account of which appeared in Frontier Times several months ago. Continuing for three years longer in the business of driving to the markets of New Mexico and Colorado, Mr. Goodnight found himself possessed of $72,000, a part of this belonging and being paid over to the heirs of his former partner. The last year he spent on the trail he worked in conjunction with John Chism, clearing a profit of $17,000.

In 1871 he was married to Miss Mary Ann Dyer, and for a while they resided in Colorado, where Mr. Goodnight assisted in organizing the Stock Growers' Bank of Pueblo, and also invested heavily in other enterprises but in the panic of 1873 he saw his property to the amount of $100,000 suddenly swept away, leaving him nothing in the way of working capital except a herd of 1800 cattle. In 1876 he returned to Texas and located a ranch in Palo Duro Canyon. The nearest house to him to the eastward at that time was at Henrietta, two-hundred miles away. The loneliness of his situation can be understood from the fact that he, at one time, spent six months in the canyon without receiving a visit from a white man.

In 1877 Mr. Goodnight formed a partnership with John G. Adair of Wrathdair, Ireland, under the firm name of Adair & Goodnight, Mr. Adair investing $372,000 in the business, with Goodnight as manager. This partnership continued for eleven years, and at one time the firm owned over 100,000 head of cattle. Their ranch brand was JA. In 1889 Mr. Goodnight moved from the JA headquarters ranch to what afterwards became the town of Goodnight, where he resided for the remaining years of his life. He owned 40,000 acres of land and leased 20,000 acres more upon which he grazed 18,000 head of cattle.

At immense expense Mr.Goodnight surrounded a tract of several hundred acres with an eight-foot fence for the purpose of confining a herd of buffalo, some antelope, elk,and different varieties of deer. He owned the largest domesticated herd of buffalo in existence, and for several years conducted exhaustive experiments in crossing the buffalo with domestic cattle with a view to securing and perfecting a strain of hybrids larger and more hardy than the domestic breeds and better adapted to the requirements of Western stockmen who breed cattle for market only. His experiments proved fairly successful, and he produced many half and quarter bred animals and demonstrated the fact that, unlike some hybrids, the offspring of the buffalo bull and domestic cow will breed and perpetuate the desirable qualities of both sire and dam. He called his cross breeds "catalo."

From the time Mr. Goodnight and Mr. Sheek entered the cow business in 1857 to the time of his death his time was spent on ranches, and the thorough knowledge of the cattle business thus acquired was in great measure the secret of his success. In the days of his active operations on the trail, he formulated a set of rules for the guidance of his employees and insisted upon their strict observance. Drinking liquor was strictly forbidden among his men, and quarreling was prohibited on pain of dismissal. His rules were broken only once or twice during the many years that he operated his ranch business. Once he was approached by two of his men who had had a disagreement and they wanted his permission to allow them to fight a duel. Mr. Goodnight heard each one's side of the affair, and then called their attention to another phase of the matter. The herd was then in the heart of the Indian country, and the assistance and protection of every man was needed to carry it safely to its destination. There was no surgeon to attend to wounded men, and dead cowboys were of no particular value under the circumstances. Therefore the fight would have to be deferred until the cattle were delivered and the men discharged, and if this arrangement was not satisfactory the would-be duelists could shoulder their saddles and walk back to Texas. This decision ended the trouble. When Fort Sumner was reached Mr. Goodnight called the two men to him and paid them and then informed them that they were at liberty to go ahead with their little six-shooter party, for there were men enough around to see fair play and the regimental surgeon was adept at probing for bullets. The men thanked him for his kindness, but said that their personal differences had long since been adjusted to the satisfaction of both. On another occasion one of his best men got into a difficulty with the cook and was promptly discharged. These incidents, insignificant in themselves, are mentioned to show how thoroughly Mr. Goodnight possessed the respect and obedience of his men and never had any trouble with them during the many years he was engaged in the cow business.

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